RE: AGM, Call for volunteers and Amendment to December 3, 2020 Agenda

The RLA is looking for members to join the executive. If you would be interested in joining the executive please contact us.

The Executive has decided to form a new “Submissions Working Group” to work on preparing written proposals and responses to consultation paper requests from the IRB, Federal Court, and other government agencies.  

This working group would be a roster of volunteers willing to be called on to take the lead in preparing draft submissions.  Individual members would only take on what they specifically volunteer for, and could identify in advance what type of issues they want to work on (or identify when they are/are not available, etc.).

Volunteers could pick a topic they prepare a submission on or agree to take the lead on preparing a response, then forward a draft of written submissions.  The Executive would set out the timelines and process for consultation and final approval, with the ideal being consultation with the relevant RLA committee and distribution for comment to the listserv, then final approval by the Executive.  (The Executive may vary the process, ie. if we are coordinating with other advocacy groups).

Lastly, in light of the LSO’s law summit (Day 2) and the RPD’s meeting on Virtual Hearings Project – Information session, we have decided to shorten our educational. Therefore, we will not be covering the topic of Remote Hearings.

The presentation on Covid-19 Risk management presented by LawPro has been accredited with 30 minutes of professionalism hours and will be the only presentation before our AGM. 

A copy of the Agenda is enclosed below.

If you have not signed up yet you can sign up here: https://forms.gle/fGboSqQH5od5nLJWA

If you have any questions, please let us know,

Regards

For registration please click here: https://forms.gle/qs8WzQzyocZLgGKx5

A Zoom Invitation will be sent out subsequently.

45 minutes of substantive hours can be claimed. We are still waiting for CPD accreditation from the LSO for 30 minutes of Professionalism hours. We will advise everyone as soon as we hear back from the LSO.

If you have any questions or issues please contact us.

Regards

– CPD ACCREDITATION –

3.25 hours (substantive hours)

– AGENDA –

5pm – 5.45pm DISCUSSION OF MPSEP V. TRAN
Speaker: Justice Justice O’Reilly, Justice – Federal Court of Canada
Moderator: Leigh Salsberg

-Standard of Review
-Conditional Sentence Orders as “Terms of Imprisonment” under IRPA
-Retrospective application in the immigration context of amendments to criminal statutes
-Broader implications, next steps and strategies in cases affected by the decision

5.45 pm -6.30 pm INTERSECTIONS OF CRIMINAL AND IMMIGRATION LAW: WORKING WITH CRIMINAL DEFENCE COUNSEL

Speaker: Peter Edelmann, Edelmann & Co. Law Offices
Moderator: Leigh Salsberg

-Pre-conviction: strategies for plea resolution, agreements on charges, sentences, agreed statements of fact.
-Sentencing: R.v.Pham – taking into consideration of immigration consequences at sentencing, writing expert immigration opinions for a criminal court
-Post-conviction relief: conviction and sentence appeals, withdrawal of guilty pleas, pardons and record suspensions.
6.30pm – 6.50pm Light Dinner Will Be Served

6.50pm – 7.40pm EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT INADMISSIBILITY ON SECURITY GROUNDS, AND SECTION 34

Speaker : Ronald Poulton, Poulton Law office
Moderator : Leigh Salsberg

– Developments in definitions of membership, danger to security and terrorism
– Impact of SCC decision in Ezokola on complicity findings
– criminality and how to demonstrate rehabilitation at IAD

-Standard of review in Federal Court for Immigration Division decisions under s.34 of IRPA

7.40pm – 8.10pm Q&A SESSION

8.10pm – 8.30pm RLA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

REGISTRATION FEES:

RLA Members – $50

Non-Members- $75

Students- $25

Articling Students- $25

https://rlaontario.wordpress.com/payment-page-rla-workshops-and-educationals/

CONFERENCE MATERIALS AND RECORDING
Presentation materials will be made available to all conference participants by email within the week leading up to the conference.

A recording of the conference will be made available online to all participants within a few weeks after the conference.

PAYMENT:
Please pay via Paypal on the RLA website. / Veuillez payer avec paypal sur le site
internet de la RLA. https://rlaontario.wordpress.com/payment-page-rla-workshops-and-educationals/

Payment by cheque is also accepted. Cheques can be mailed to / Le paiement par
chèque est aussi accepté. Les chèques peuvent être envoyés à:

Refugee Lawyers Association
c/o Lani Gozlan, Barrister & Solicitor
603-10 St. Mary Street
Toronto, ON
M4Y 1P9

If you require assistance with the fees, please contact Lani Gozlan at lani@lanigozlan.com
Si vous avez besoin d’aide avec les frais, veuillez contacter Lani Gozlan à lani@lanigozlan.com
If you are not a member of the RLA, you can sign up on the RLA Ontario website. Annual Membership costs are $75.00 for lawyers and observers and $25 for students.
http://sevres-babylone.com/rlamembershipapp2016.pdf

WEBCAST
—- More information to come

SPEAKERS:

THE HONOURABLE JAMES O’REILLY
Born on November 13, 1955 in St. Catharines, Ontario. Education at the University of Western Ontario, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University and University of Ottawa. Admitted to the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1985. Consultant to the Law Reform Commission of Canada from 1984-1988; Counsel at Department of Justice from 1988-1989; Sole practitioner from 1989-1997; Executive Legal Officer of the Supreme Court of Canada, 1997-2002; Associate Executive Director of the National Judicial Institute, 2002. Appointed Judge of the Federal Court of Canada, Trial Division and ex officio member of the Court of Appeal, December 12, 2002. Since July 2, 2003, the date of the coming into force of the Courts Administration Service Act, he is now Judge of the Federal Court.

RONALD POULTON
Ronald Poulton has worked for the United Nations in refugee protection, human rights investigations and as legal adviser to the UN peacekeeping operations in Tajikistan in Central Asia. He has appeared as counsel in some of the landmark immigration cases in constitutional, security & terrorism related matters, at all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada. He has been a regular speaker at the Canadian Bar Association and other conferences, has taught immigration law and was called to testify before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Immigration and before the Inter American Commission on Human Rights. He is a board member of the Toronto Bail Program board of directors. He has written and published two books, the second of which – Pale Blue Hope – depicts his work in UN peacekeeping operations in Cambodia in 1992 and in Tajikistan in 1999. He continues to practice immigration law in Toronto.

PETER EDELMANN
Peter Edelmann has a practice focused primarily on litigation and appeals in the areas of immigration and refugee law, extradition and criminal defence. He appears before all levels of the federal and provincial courts as well as the various divisions of the Immigration and Refugee Board. He has been an active member of the national Immigration Section of the Canadian Bar Association for several years and sits on the litigation committees of both the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers and the Canadian Council for Refugees. Peter regularly appears before Parliamentary committees and before the Supreme Court of Canada on issues related to criminality and national security in the immigration context. Peter is an instructor in the University of British Columbia Certificate in Immigration: Laws, Policies and Procedures (CILPP) program and co-hosts the Borderlines podcast (www.borderlines.ca).

On February 28, 2017, Leigh Salsberg, Jacqueline Bonisteel, and Maureen Silcoff presentations on current issues around the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement.

Then, on May 10, 2017, the Honourable Justice Campbell, Richard Wazana, and Robert Blanshay spoke on emergency stays in Federal Court. Both Richard and Robert provided written materials for the attendees.

Astrid Mrkich
Dilani Mohan
Eve Sehatzadeh
Giselle Salinas
Kemi Oduwole
Lani Gozlan
Marianne Lithwick
Pablo Irribarra
Raoul Boulakia
Tina Hlimi

The RlA executive for the upcoming year includes

To join the RLA, you need to download the application form,  complete it, and then email it to the RLA, as directed.  Once approved you can pay online using the Paypal button.

LAWYERS

STUDENTS
For student members only, pay your annual dues by clicking here:  

o Admissibility Issues in H&C Applications

o Judicially Reviewing H&C refusals

o The latest Federal Court decisions on H&C Applications

o Invoking H&C considerations in Live in Caregiver Applications, IAD Appeals, and in overseas applications

o Narrowing the definition of hardship – Federal Court of Appeal Update on IRPA ss 25(1.3) and ‘risk’ in H&C Applications

o Tools for preparing a comprehensive H&C Application

Date: Monday, May 26, 2014
Location: 60 Lowther Avenue, Toronto, ON M5R 1C7
Time: 1:00 – 4:00 pm
Cost: $50 for lawyers
$30 for students (pay by e-money transfer or by cash or cheque at the event)
Please note that this event is for RLA members only.

Panel:
Michael Battista, Jordan Battista LLP
Richard Wazana, Wazana Law
Barbara Jackman, Jackman and Associates
Sayran Sulevani, Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic